Join author Elizabeth A. DeWolfe as she di scusses and reads from her newly published book Alias Agnes: The Notorious Tale of a Gilded Age Spy.
\nResearched in part in the Lexington Pub lic Library's Kentucky Room\, Alias Agnes is the story of \;Jane Armst rong Tucker\, a Boston stenographer scrabbling to get by as a single woman in the Gilded Age\, until she is offered a once-in-a-lifetime \;job\, to go undercover as a detective\, alias Agnes Parker\, with a ten-week mi ssion.
\nHer target: Madeleine Pollard\, former mistress of Congress man William C.P. Breckinridge. Madeleine Pollard was a Kentuckian with hum ble roots who had used charisma to work her way into the parlors of the Wa shington\, DC\, elite. Pollard sued Breckinridge for breach of promise whe n he failed to marry her.
\nExploring the intricacies of the trial a nd scandal that captivated the nation\, author Elizabeth A. DeWolfe demons trates that a shared lack of power does not always lead to alliances among women. DeWolfe uncovers the strategies women used to make their way in th e world\, drawing parallels between the previously forgotten and incomplet e tales of Tucker\, Pollard\, and the women who testified in the trial&mda sh\;from formerly enslaved persons\, to white socialites\, to single gover nment clerks\, to divorced physicians.
\nOn display will also be the only extant copy of The Real Madeleine Pollard\, Jane Tucker's tell-all b ook\, written immediately following the trial the in hopes of building pub lic sympathy in advance of a planned appeal of the verdict and Breckinridg e's reelection campaign.
\nBook signing to follow. With copies of Al ias Agnes available for purchase from A Likely Story Books.
\nRegist ration suggested.
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